A Plot: Adam's excited about his impending graduation from William Penn, but Beverly's not comfortable with the idea of becoming an empty nester.
B Plot: Geoff encourages Erica to take one more attempt at having a career in music by auditioning to be a one-time backup singer for Cyndi Lauper.
- Ambiguous Time Period: As the show's continuously set in "1980-something", the last digit of Adam's graduating year is never mentioned, and the giant sign stating it at graduation is never seen in full.
- Aw, Look! They Really Do Love Each Other: When Beverly refuses to attend Adam's graduation because she can't bare being all alone, Barry talks with her and admits that, as much as he's fought against her smothering in the past, the reason he continues to be a part of her life (aside from eating from her fridge) is because he genuinely misses her, and assures her that both Erica and Adam feel the same way and won't ever truly abandon her.
- Big Word Shout: Bev claims she'll be fine with all her children out of the house, but she doesn't last ten seconds sitting in an empty house before letting out a big cry of "F***!" (bleeped, of course).
- Call-Back: Upset about her littlest schmoo leaving her soon, one of the first things Beverly does to reminisce over their time together is try to get Adam to wear the embarrassing "Train" sweater she bought for him all the way back in "Daddy Daughter Day". In The Tag, Adam's shown to actually still fit in it, which is immediately followed by a clip of the original episode and Pops' reaction to the sweater.
- Continuity Nod: Joanne reminds us that she has a terrible singing voice.
- Foreshadowing: When auditioning for Cyndi Lauper's manager, Erica feels sick, which is just dismissed as nerves. She later mentions that she's still a little nauseous. At the end, she had gone to the doctor and reveals the reason why: she's pregnant, and was suffering from Morning Sickness.
- The Ghost: Chad Kremp is mentioned to be graduating and his mother shouts to him when she arrives at the ceremony, but otherwise he doesn't appear onscreen.
- Graduation for Everyone: Adam, Dave Kim, Brea, and the rest of their grade/social circle all graduate.
- High Hopes, Zero Talent: Joanne auditions for the Cyndi Lauper backup singer position, assuming she has a great voice, but then she sings and is screechy and off-key. Geoff notes that Barry is rubbing off on her.
- Implausible Deniability: When Adam's graduation actually arrives, Beverly initially refuses to attend, trying to justify it by saying that if she doesn't see it happen, then it won't happen at all, and nothing will change.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Deconstructed. Geoff immediately accepts to have Erica join Cyndi Lauper's European tour, but she is angry that Geoff won't admit that he doesn't want her to go... because she doesn't want to go. She just wants him to stop giving up who he is just to please her. It gets to the point where they argue about Geoff being too selfless, with Erica both refusing to let him apologize for being so thoughtful while also demanding that he be honest about his actual desires.
- Morning Sickness: In the end, it turns out that Erica was suffering from this, and not anxiety due to potentially being on-stage with Cyndi Lauper.
- No Sense of Personal Space: Barry's first attempt to help Beverly deal with the idea of being an empty-nester is to have her talk with three adults she trusts that are also living alone: Pop-Pop, Bill Lewis, and Mr. Glascott. While the first two actually admit that they feel incredibly lonely by themselves, Mr. Glascott instead scares Beverly by pulling out a whole book of activities he's been planning to do with her once her kids are all gone.
- Season Finale: The episode is the ninth season finale, and shows all of the Goldbergs entering a new stage of their lives.
- Wham Episode: Adam finally graduates from William Penn Academy with his friends and Erica's revealed to be pregnant, so she and Geoff will have to prepare for when their baby comes.
